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Peggy Dow

{{short description|American actress (born 1928)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2014}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Peggy Dow

| image = Peggy Dow MS152.jpg

| caption = Dow in Modern Screen magazine (1952)

| birthname = Peggy Josephine Varnadow

| other_names = Peggy V. Helmerich

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1928|3|18}}

| birth_place = Columbia, Mississippi, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = {{marriage|Walter Helmerich III|1951|2012|end=d.}}

| children = 5

| education = University of Southern Mississippi
Northwestern University

| occupation = Film actress

| yearsactive = 1949–1952

}}

Peggy Dow (born Peggy Josephine Varnadow; March 18, 1928){{cite interview |last=Helmerich |first=Peggy Dow |subject-link=Peggy Dow |date=October 9, 2009 |title=Peggy V. Helmerich: Hollywood Starlet & Gracious Philanthropist |url=http://voicesofoklahoma.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Peggy_Helmerich.pdf |work= |interviewer-last=Erling |interviewer-first=John |interviewer-link= |location= |publisher=Voices of Oklahoma |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121102/http://voicesofoklahoma.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Peggy_Helmerich.pdf |archive-format=PDF |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} is an American philanthropist and former actress who had a brief (1949–1952) career in Hollywood at Universal Studios starring in films during the Golden Age Era in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Nurse Kelly in Harvey (1950) and Judy Greene in Bright Victory (1951).

Early life

Born in Columbia, Mississippi, at the age of 4 she moved with her family to Covington, Louisiana. She attended high school and junior college at Gulf Park College in Gulfport, Mississippi (now the Gulf Park campus of the University of Southern Mississippi), then finished college at Northwestern University in Illinois, appearing in college plays and receiving her degree from Northwestern's School of Speech in 1948.{{rp|12|quote=... I graduated from school when I was 20, from Northwestern.}}{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Emmet |date=July 5, 2006 |title=NU Classrooms, Hall To Get Summer Facelift |url=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2006/07/05/archive-manual/nu-classrooms-hall-to-get-summer-facelift/ |website=dailynorthwestern.com |location= |publisher=The Daily Northwestern |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322235315/https://dailynorthwestern.com/2006/07/05/archive-manual/nu-classrooms-hall-to-get-summer-facelift/ |archive-date=March 22, 2025 |access-date=March 22, 2025}}{{rp|at=Third from last paragraph.|quote=Peggy Dow Helmerich, Communications ’48, donated funds in 1996 to renovate the auditorium....}}

Career

After brief modeling and radio experience, Dow was spotted by a talent agent and cast in a television show in February 1949. Shortly after that exposure, Universal offered her a seven-year contract. Dow made nine films, most notably as Nurse Kelly in Harvey (1950), starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull,{{cite web |last=Logan |first=Cathy |date=July 20, 2008 |orig-date=July 3, 1997 |title=Tulsa's Peggy Dow Knew Him When |url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=13&articleid=19970702_Ne_a4tulsa&archive=yes |website=tulsaworld.com |location=Oklahoma |publisher=Tulsa World |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118081810/https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=13&articleid=19970702_Ne_a4tulsa&archive=yes |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} and co-starring with Best Actor Oscar nominee Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951). After being featured in several crime dramas, Dow had starring roles in two 1951 family films, Reunion in Reno and You Never Can Tell.

Dow retired after three years in the business to marry Walter Helmerich III, an oil driller from Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951. He became president of his family's business, Helmerich & Payne. They were married for 60 years, until his death in 2012. The couple had five sons.{{cite web |author= |date=January 10, 2012 |title=Tulsa Businessman Walter Helmerich III Dead At 88 |url=http://www.newson6.com/story/16488240/tulsa-businessman-philanthropist-walt-helmerich-iii-dead-at-88 |website=newson6.com |location= |publisher=Griffin Communications |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408151954/https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3652742f69d76f62069043/tulsa-businessman-walter-helmerich-iii-dead-at-88 |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} She became an active supporter of libraries and other charities.{{cite web |author= |date=September 8, 2006 |title=Peggy Helmerich - Oklahoma Library Legends |url=http://www.library.okstate.edu/dean/jpaust/legends/people/helmerich.htm |website=okstate.edu |location= |publisher=Oklahoma State University Library |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105043824/http://www.library.okstate.edu/dean/jpaust/legends/people/helmerich.htm |archive-date=January 5, 2009 |access-date=May 23, 2009}}

The Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, an award given annually since 1985 to a distinguished author by the Tulsa Library Trust, is named in her honor, as is the drama school at the University of Oklahoma{{cite web |author= |year=2011 |title=OU School of Drama Named to Honor Peggy Dow Helmerich |url=https://www.ou.edu/content/finearts/drama/about/naming.html |website=ou.edu |location= |publisher=OU School of Drama |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221195818/https://www.ou.edu/finearts/drama/about/naming |archive-date=February 21, 2019 |access-date=}} and the auditorium at Northwestern University School of Communication's Annie May Swift Hall.{{cite web |author= |year=2006 |title=Northwestern University Campus Maps: Annie May Swift Hall |url=https://maps.northwestern.edu/txt/facility/122 |website=northwestern.edu |location= |publisher=Northwestern University |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707145723/https://maps.northwestern.edu/txt/facility/122 |archive-date=July 7, 2020 |access-date=March 22, 2025}}

Filmography

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Portal|Biography|Mississippi|Film|}}

  • {{IMDb name}}
  • [http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/helmerich-peggy/ Voices of Oklahoma interview with Peggy Dow Helmerich.] First person interview conducted with Peggy Dow Helmerich. Original audio and transcript archived with [http://voicesofoklahoma.com Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Peggy}}

Category:1928 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:Actresses from Louisiana

Category:Actresses from Mississippi

Category:Actresses from Tulsa, Oklahoma

Category:American film actresses

Category:American philanthropists

Category:Northwestern University School of Communication alumni

Category:People from Columbia, Mississippi

Category:People from Covington, Louisiana